Sperry Marine, operating as Sperry Gyroscope Company through much of the mid-20th century and headquartered in Lake Success, New York (later Great Neck), was one of the United States’ primary suppliers of precision navigation and fire control equipment to the Navy — including gyrocompasses, gyroscopic stabilizers, autopilot systems, gun fire control directors, bombsights, and radar systems. Sperry supplied the Navy with the Mark 14 Gyrocompass, the standard Navy shipboard compass from the 1940s onward, as well as the Sperry autopilot systems, stable element systems for gun directors, and the Sperry Mk 37 gun fire control director used on destroyers and cruisers throughout the WWII and Cold War eras. Sperry navigation and fire control equipment used precision electro-mechanical mechanisms with extensive internal electrical wiring, synchros, motors, and servo systems. The electrical insulation of Sperry gyroscope motor windings, synchro coil assemblies, and internal wiring used insulating materials that in mid-century manufacture incorporated asbestos-containing electrical insulation in some component applications. Interior Communications Electricians maintaining Sperry gyrocompass equipment and Fire Controlmen maintaining Sperry fire control directors worked with and in proximity to the asbestos-insulated internal electrical components of Sperry precision instruments during equipment maintenance and repair operations.

Gyrocompass Motor and Electrical Insulation Asbestos

Sperry gyrocompass equipment incorporated asbestos-containing electrical insulation:

  • Gyroscope motor winding insulation — Sperry gyrocompass gyroscope elements used precision high-speed electric motors driving the gyroscope rotor, with the motor stator windings using electrical insulation materials that in mid-century motor manufacturing incorporated asbestos-containing electrical insulating materials in the stator coil winding insulation. Interior Communications Electricians performing gyrocompass motor maintenance and replacement worked with and in proximity to the asbestos-insulated motor stator assemblies during gyrocompass maintenance operations
  • Synchro and follow-up system wiring insulation — Sperry gyrocompass follow-up systems and course repeater systems used extensive networks of synchro transmitters and receivers with internal coil windings insulated with materials that incorporated asbestos-containing electrical insulation in mid-century synchro manufacture. Interior Communications Electricians tracing and replacing Sperry gyrocompass system wiring throughout ship’s navigation and repeater system wiring handled asbestos-insulated synchro coil assemblies during maintenance work
  • Equipment housing gasket materials — Sperry gyrocompass gyro binnacle and gyro room equipment housings incorporated gasket materials at equipment access cover joints and housing connection interfaces. Interior Communications Electricians removing Sperry gyrocompass equipment housings and covers for internal access encountered gasket materials at the equipment housing joint faces during maintenance operations

Sperry Fire Control Director Asbestos

Sperry gun fire control directors incorporated asbestos in electrical components:

  • Mk 37 director electrical component insulation — the Sperry Mark 37 Gun Fire Control Director used extensively on WWII-era and Cold War destroyers and cruisers incorporated servo motors, synchro assemblies, and computing mechanisms with internal electrical insulation that in mid-century production used asbestos-containing electrical insulating materials in some component applications. Fire Controlmen performing component-level maintenance on Mk 37 directors worked with the director’s internal electrical components incorporating asbestos-containing insulation materials
  • Stable element and reference gyro insulation — Sperry stable element systems providing gyroscopic vertical reference for gun directors used precision electric motors and synchro assemblies with electrical insulation incorporating asbestos-containing materials in mid-century production. Fire Controlmen maintaining stable element systems encountered asbestos-insulated internal components during stable element maintenance operations

VA Claims for Veterans Exposed to Sperry Products

VA presumptive service connection under 38 CFR § 3.309(d) covers asbestos exposure aboard Navy vessels. Interior Communications Electricians and Fire Controlmen who maintained Sperry gyrocompass and fire control equipment in naval vessel navigation and fire control spaces and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, or asbestos-related lung cancer may qualify for VA disability benefits.